3 California men suspected of recording stabbing death

MERCED, Calif. (AP) — Three men in Central California suspected of tying up a man, stabbing him to death and recording the attack with a cellphone video camera were arrested after the ex-girlfriend of one of the suspects went to police, authorities said Wednesday.

The victim and the suspects shared a home in Atwater, where they were drinking on Saturday when an argument between the victim and one of the men escalated into a fight, Merced County Sheriff's Deputy Delray Shelton said.

Detectives said they believe the three men are responsible for killing the man, who has not been identified, and then wrapping his body in a rug and dumping it in an almond orchard near Snelling, where they set it on fire, Shelton said.

Dionicio Gutierrez Salazar, 36, Francisco Alvarez, 24, and Alexis Eduarto Garcia-Jiminez, 19, have been booked into the Merced County Jail, he said.

One of the suspects showed the video of the attack to his ex-girlfriend on Tuesday, and the woman alerted police, Shelton said.

Deputies identified the woman's former boyfriend and conducted surveillance on the suspects. One of them confessed to the crime to detectives and led them to the body, Shelton said.

Investigators found blood splatter and other evidence of the killing at the home, and they are searching the men's phones to find the video, he said.